Adventure 1: Sans Dirth: The Missing
Session One At the end of the month of Xephora, the guild masters met for their monthly meeting. Pilbo the halfling burst out of nowhere and started raving about disappearances in Sans Dirth and the fact that the authorities didn't care. Not many guild masters cared either, but some sent representatives; the Healers' Guild was compassionate; the Elements Guild had a vested interest in protecting their outpost by the sea; the Beasts' guild master was from Sans Dirth and angered by the news; the Gladiators' guild master wanted to get Kildrik out of the city and out of his hair; and the guild master of not the Assassins' Guild sent a member, not naming the price... yet. So those who were to be sent prepared. Kildrik even went so far as to commit arson against his own store, doing fire damage to the arena as well! Enialis said goodbye to his wife and children. The party met at the Eastern Crossroads and got into Pilbo's bouseboat to go downriver. They arrived in Sans Dirth around sunset, and all but Pilbo and the Nameless One went into the tavern. Kildrik got up on the bar and shouted out for anyone who would tell him about the missing people. This actually worked! The adventurers talked to the common folk and one gave Enialis an especially hot tip - he had seen humanoids carrying what looked like bound and gagged prisoners down past his property into the foothills. No one else got a lead as promising at this. Session Two That night, Pilbo and the Nameless One stayed on the houseboat, and tried to bring it up to the creek leading up to the property of the farmer, but found it was too narrow for the craft to navigate. Meanwhile Kildrik lead the others to the farmer's property. For some reason, they felt it necessary to sneak on, but even sneaky Varis was sniffed out by the farm hounds. So Enialis tried asking (who would have thought it!) the farmer, and though he was grumpy, he said yes. Kildrik tried to get Varis to pick the lock of the barn, but he refused. Instead, Darius used his outdoor skills to find them the perfect spot to both camp and to watch the horizon for any kidnappers that might try and navigate the countryside at night. There was only one person who passed in the night - an unrelated female elf. In the morning the gang regrouped and Darius tracked the kidnappers by their footprints and those of their dragged victims. They found a cave. Varis checked inside and scoped out that there were two goblins on watch, and three sleeping. He heard them talking about the next shipment of prisoners to arrive. The team re-entered and took all five of them out before any alarm could be raised. Session Three One remaining goblin was stabilised by Enialis and then intimidated by Kildrik and Darius. He started screaming and begging for his life. He pointed them further down the passage towards where the prisoners were kept. Then they knocked him out, tied him up and put him in one of the rickety beds on the side of the cavern. They made two of the corpses to look like they were sleeping, and hid the more grotesquely killed bodies under the beds. Upon searching the room they found 40 GP in a pouch. They split this 5 ways, and then decided to each donate 1 GP to the Nameless One (player absent, character stationed outside the cave as lookout) They scoped out the tunnel to the next room and spotted a fire trap. Varis disarmed it, though not before getting his hand lightly scorched. XP: Goblins 10XP each - 50XP total. Session Four Varis tried to scope out the next cavern but was spotted! So a fight broke out. Four human mooks, a human leader, and then two big dogs and two big rats popped out of some piles of garbage, snarling! (play was delayed for a day unfortunately!) Session Five The players slaughtered the room without any time for parley of any sort. XP: Humans 10XP each, Human Leader 40XP, Big Dogs 30XP each, Rats 10XP each - 160XP total. They searched the room and found a lightning gem which the Nameless Wizard put on his staff, and 60GP which they split evenly. Varis scouted ahead and saw a room with four humans, an elven wizard, a big guard dog, and a cage full of zombies. Trying to set the zombies free, he tries to shoot the lever to the cage, but it requires strength to lift. This warns the wizard, who shoots a spell out the door but misses. Varis goes back to get the others. Through a series of good tactical choices the players took down everyone before they were able to set the zombies free, and the last human alive surrendered. XP: Humans 10XP each, Elf Wizard 160XP, Big Dog 30XP - 220XP total. Under intimidation the man admitted they were trying to build a zombie army, and that the people in the cage were the kidnapped people. He said the plan was in the wizard's journal, but the players are unable to decipher the arcane writing on their own. Session Six (wrap-up) The players found 120GP and 2 healing potions in the dungeon. Kildrik stripped the dead of their salvageable weapons and armour. Going back to the town of Sans Dirth, the players handed in the two prisoners to the law, and told the mayor about the zombies, leaving it up to the relatives to decide what to do with their dead. Back at Nairu, Enialis went back to his family. Kildrik asked the reluctant Gladiators Guildmaster if he could use their forge as his was burnt down. The Beasts Guildmaster was in mourning for the people of Sans Dirth and brawled with Darius as her way of showing grief. Varis' Guildmaster welcomed him back. The Elements Guildmaster greeted the Nameless One and received the book from him to translate. Meanwhile, back on the river, a messenger came for Pilbo. He asked him to pull the old team back together - the high cleric of Cymur needed his assistance. XP earned: 430XP through combat, 200XP through successful skill checks, 300XP for mission success, and 320XP earned through RP = 1250XP, split 5 ways is 250XP each. The players levelled up.